Originally Posted by
Airbubba
Last year at an airshow my wife wanted to buy me a ride on one of these warbirds but I declined. Early in my aviation career I was nearly killed by a P-51 that cartwheeled on landing in a crosswind..
This aircraft is a regular at my airport. I've never felt the urge to pay the $ for a ride (though if the Canadian Lanc were to come here I would reconsider
. Had a PBY blow an engine on a low fly-by many years ago. Landed safely and had a bucket out front collecting $28K for a new engine. But, I'll ask a simple question. These aircraft are complex. The crews who flew them during their operational time frame knew them inside out (at least the ones that survived). I'm not sure you retain proficiency part-time anymore.